Memphis Grizzlies Star Ja Morant Hits Game-Winning Shot In Return Against Pelicans

Armon Sadler
·3 min read
2
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Ja Morant is back in a major way after serving his 25-game suspension. The Memphis Grizzlies star had a statement performance in his return game, capped off by a game-winning basket to put his struggling 7-19 team over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday (Dec. 19).

Initially, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said that the 24-year-old hooper would start, but not play “crazy minutes.” The two-time All-Star got off to a rough start with just seven points in the first quarter as the Pelicans went on to take a 19-point lead at halftime. Morant got things going and helped the Grizzlies cut their deficit to 10 points heading into the fourth quarter.

In the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, he hit multiple clutch baskets but none more exhilarating than his final make. As the game’s closing seconds wound down, Morant drove into the lane and hit a floater over two defenders to snap the Grizzlies’ five-game losing streak. He finished with 34 points, eight assists, and six rebounds, ultimately playing 35 of the game’s 48 minutes. Morant also set the record for the most points in a return game after missing 25 or more consecutive games in NBA history.

Naturally, Ja Morant was the focus of the traditional post-game on-court interviews. “I’m a dog. I’m a dog, I put work in,” he told TNT as his teammates rallied around him in celebration. “I’ve been putting work in, man. I ain’t played a game in eight months. Had a lot of time, you know, [to] learn myself. Lot of hard days, you know, where I went through it.”

His tone was audibly grateful and cathartic as he reaffirmed what playing basketball meant to him. “Basketball is my life, what I love,” Morant said. “Therapeutic for me. I’m just excited to be back.” The Grizzlies, who were the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference last year, but are currently far from that, are surely glad to have him back, too.

Ja Morant’s last time on the court was April 28, when the Memphis Grizzlies were eliminated from the opening round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs in six games by the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, he has been the subject of several negative headlines after flashing what looked like a gun on Instagram Live several weeks later. This was his second gun incident within a few months, on top of off-court legal issues, resulting in the NBA Rookie Of The Year being suspended 25 games.

More from VIBE.com